Tips for massive legs

[saudades]

I know I've probably asked this before, but I want a compilation of any good tips on getting your legs massive.

 

[irishhammer]

I do toe lifts at the end of each set on squats, that got me 2" on my calves this semester.

 

[teedubgee]

I'm using heavy leg presses and hack squats with feet close to really get a better sweep. I think that makes your legs look much much bigger. Also, I'm doing an FST-7 finish with my leg extensions. I squeeze the shit out of every rep, contract for a few seconds right after the set, take a swig of water, and go right into the next set. I do 7 sets in the 10-12 rep range. I stress full range of motion, contraction, and controlled movement. When I'm done and fully pumped, I go right into a DC style stretch. I love workin Quads :thumbsup: I also moved hams to a separate day (with bi's) and stopped workin calves altogether. Legs are improving quite well.

 

[The Booger]

This was posted on another forum:

High Reps for Growth
by Chris Cormier - 1995



Most bodybuilders will tell you that you can't get big without getting strong. If you've been at this sport for any length of time,, you've probably already learned that to get stronger and make your muscles grow, you need to lift within a rep range of 6-10. Most training articles advise you to stick with these low-rep parameters.

I'm here to tell you that the low-rep system is only second best -- at least as far as leg training is concerned. You may already be using high-rep sets to train your calves, which is an endurance muscle group that actually receives a stimulus each time you take a step. Such endurance muscles respond will to high-rep training because you're training them in a way that they were meant to be trained.

The fact is, you can train legs very heavy at low-rep ranges and make considerable progress. I did for a long time during my days as an amateur. When I was 19, I put six wheels on each side of the squat bar. In what must have been a twist of fate, I suffered an injury that changed the way I trained legs - in the long run, for the better.

One day while squatting with a relatively light weight (315 pounds), I turned just slightly to talk to someone with the bar across my shoulders; the next thing I knew, I was on my back. I felt a jolt - a pinched nerve. Instinctively, I re-racked the weight before falling to the floor, but I was unable to get up for about two hours. Though the injury was never diagnosed, it left a permanent mark: I could no longer squat in the manner I was used to without severe repercussions.

Though squatting had been my bread-and-butter leg exercise, I was forced to find an alternative that was equally effective. The movement I chose was the leg press.

The leg press may not be quite as effective as the squat in terms of overall quad development, but I can't argue with he results I've experienced from using it. More important the movement itself was how I combined dong the exercise with a new training style - which brings me back to my injury.

The simple answer to my injury was to use high reps in my leg training - much higher than most people traditionally use for muscle building. No longer did I do sets of 4 to 10 reps, but rather, I pushed through 20 reps! Even though my ego occasionally craved super heavy weights, I actually found that I was growing at a far faster rate on higher reps -- so much so that legs are now my number-one bodypart.

While some people might cut the weight stack in half in order to complete twice the reps, I pushed myself -- enduring both physical and mental torture -- to get my weights high too. How high? Turn the page if you can blow out 20 reps with 1,350 pounds. That type of training will definitely breathe fire into your quads.

How can you achieve your own heavy-weight, high-rep sets? First, attend to the physical component by warming up. With leg extensions, for instance, warm up by doing 15 reps with about 50 pounds (or whatever your warm-up weight is) for five sets. Then move on to the leg press. Start off with a couple of plates on each side of the machine for 20 reps, and add another plate on each side for every set (about five to seven total) thereafter. If you can do 15 reps with a weight, then you can do 20, but it's best to have a spotter there to keep you moving. Add just a little more weight every workout while keeping the reps high.

Getting the muscles to do the work is hard enough, but the most difficult aspect is actually mental: the attitude that it takes to get those last few reps. That's a champion's greatest skill, not devising some special combination of movements but perfecting mental toughness. A champion knows what he wants, knows what he needs to do and what it takes to get it. He wants it bad enough to work through the pain.

Work on your mental approach. Keep at it. Train with others who understand its importance. A good training partner will keep you focused when you want to quit.

One last point on the leg press: I often see people doing the movement with their legs way out on the platform or alternating foot positions (ditto for calf exercises). I prefer to keep my feet shoulder-width apart, pointing directly forward or just slightly outward. I don't think legs ware meant to do exercises with an exaggerated stance. Use a screwy stance while moving a ton of weight, and you're just begging for an injury.

There you have it: a leg-training formula that abandons the traditional school of thought on using heavy weights and low reps to build muscle. I discovered the routine quite literally by accident -- but you don't need to, because here it is.

A few of the people who responded after that said that 15-20 reps is the magic number for big legs. No one has given a set range though.

 

[saudades]

^ ^ ^ Okay, damn it, I'm convinced now. I've always done lower rep sets, 8-10 reps, but when I did 15 reps or more, I did notice something was different but never followed through on the feeling. Big legs, here I come!

 

[Pharm_Fed]

I will give this a try as well. I've always had a hard time getting good growth out of my legs.

 

[Chris250]

higher rep for legs is the way to go...I always do aleast 15 reps if not more and sometimes will do crazy sets up to 50 rep leg presses or hack squats...

chris

 

[jtunderdog]

I do high reps as well and have put 2 inches on my quads since last november.

 

[saudades]

Okay then, give me a couple of months doing this and I'll report back on my progress. Currently 24".

 

[Cracker69]

Yeah, I like to incorporate intensity techniques into my leg routine sporadically. Usually I like to do triple drop sets or a burnout set at the end for 50 reps. Gotta love the pump! There are some days I'll do straight sets, but most intensity tecniques I use for legs involves increasing the reps.

 

[The Booger]

I've switched from high weight, low rep sets to this low-moderate weight, high rep sets this week. My legs feel completely dead today. Must be a good sign....except getting on and off the toilet hurts. But that's a good hurt!

Also doing the same for the upper body but leaning more toward 12-15 reps per set. We'll see how it goes. It sucks going to lower weights (people look at you funny) but then again, I'm looking for mass. I'll worry about adding a ton of strength later.

 

[Stickler*]

I've switched from high weight, low rep sets to this low-moderate weight, high rep sets this week. My legs feel completely dead today. Must be a good sign....except getting on and off the toilet hurts. But that's a good hurt!

LOL... that made me laugh.. as I'm sure we ALL can remember that feeling... there's only one other good sign of a great leg workout.. and that's the puke at the end.. LOL ... i hated heavy legs and puking.. ugh...

 

[Stickler*]

good read.. short and informative... i unfortunately found out the hard way that doing heavy weights (not reps), caused fucking hemroids... not the kinda roids you wanna have... and it was also external, i had to have it removed(sliced and diced), and the doctor told me that normally only pregnant women get them... b/c they push when going through labor... WTF ... so i almost abandoned my legs altogether when training hard in the past... basically making me look like the top heavy guy at the gym at times...

guess it's time to do more leg presses, standing lunges, extensions, and curls.. unfortunately - my 'so called injury' causes me to fear away from full motion squats, and to avoid extra injury (b/c no spotter avail), my legs suffer...

enough hijacking, but good, smart, short read... thanks

 

[MrPerfect]

EXCELLENT thread, im gonna try some high reps this coming week.

 

[nuknuk]

higher rep for legs is the way to go...I always do aleast 15 reps if not more and sometimes will do crazy sets up to 50 rep leg presses or hack squats...

chris

Correct...if your legs are not painfully burning dont rack it, keep going! I do 50 rep leg presses as well. uke:

 

[The Booger]

there's only one other good sign of a great leg workout.. and that's the puke at the end.. LOL ... i hated heavy legs and puking.. ugh...

Eh but I'm like Will Farrel in that basketball movie, never puked until punched in the gut.

Ok.....I've puked.....but only from food poisoning.

 

[saudades]

^ ^ ^ Lol, same here!

 

[saudades]

Wow, did high rep sets of smith front squats yesterday. I am really feeling it in my quads today. I think this will be just the ticket to start gaining some serious size in my legs. Here's hoping...

 

[MrPerfect]

higher rep for legs is the way to go...I always do aleast 15 reps if not more and sometimes will do crazy sets up to 50 rep leg presses or hack squats...

chris

FXCKING amazing, best advice ive gotten in a while, i still cnt walk from wens leg workout :surprised

 

[The Booger]

Wow, did high rep sets of smith front squats yesterday. I am really feeling it in my quads today. I think this will be just the ticket to start gaining some serious size in my legs. Here's hoping...

I'm loving it, just not the day after.

Tuesday I was walking like I had a stick shoved up my ass. Legs were just dead.